Method of knitting



June 26, 1945. 4 I Q PAGE 2,378,947

' METHOD OF KNITTING Filed Jan. 25, 1944 Zhmemor Patented June 26, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE METHODOF KNITTING Charles L. Page, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 25, 1944, Serial No. 519,657 4 Claims. (01. .66-- 107) the sinker throat pushes the stitch over the hook of the needle without releasing the pressure of the'yarn. Consequently when knitting a tight stitch and changing yarns the tendency is to cut the fabric due to the overlapping of the two yarns making a double thickness for the sinkers to push against without any compensating relief. a The only alternative is to slacken the stitch.

Another source of trouble results from the V shape formed by the latch and the cheek of the needle at the lower part of the yarn eye. When the stitch i being drawn the regular drawing platform of the sinker comes in contact with the stitch previously drawn on the needle and closes the latch before the needle is drawn low enough on the stitch cam for the yarn being fed into the needles to escape being trapped into V-formation of the yarn eye; especially on synthetic yarns, the fibers often being pinched or cut and causing a frayed appearance and weakening of the fabric.

The invention aims to eliminate these diiilculties resulting in the production of a flner and smoother fabric which can be produced without the enumerated troubles.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing in which like parts are denoted by the same reference characters throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of an improved sinker constructed in accordance wtih the present invention showing a fragment of a needle as having Just drawn a stitch.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the subsequent positions of the sinker and needle with the yarn on the inclined wall of the sinker.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing a third sequence position of the parts with the yarn on the resting platform.

Figure 4 is a similar view showing the yarn engaged with the rear wall of the sinker throat.

Referring more particularly to the drawing Iii designates generally a sinker of a standard or conventional form in common use at the present time, modified for the purposes of the present invention, such modification consisting generally of a low stitch drawing platform I i, an inclined wall 12 and a resting platform l3, which is, or may be, at generally the horizontal elevation of the standard or conventional stitch drawing platform of the present day sinker. The throat of the improved sinker is indicated at H and its back wall at I5.

The needle is designated generally at l6 and the needle latch at l1. In Figure 1 the stitch is designated at l8 and in Figures 2, 3 and 4 the same is shown in its subsequent positions at I8, l8 and l8.

It will be seen that, according to the invention, the stitch drawing platform II is a low platform compared to the regular or standard stitch drawing platform of conventional sinkers for the purpose of drawing a shorter stitch l6. As an example, I cut this platform down fifteen thousandths of an inch from the height of the regular platform in a forty-eight gauge sinker and have secured excellent results, although I do not wish to be restricted to this precise figure. For a seventy gauge sinker ten thousandths of an inch cut down gives good results.

In operation, Figure 1 shows the full draw of the needle as making a short stitch over the com paratively low stitch drawing platform I I. As the needle is being raised by the side cam and the second needle is drawing a stitch over the next sinker, the first sinker is moving forward, as indicated in Figure 2, to cause the rearwardly inclined sinker wall l2 to engage the yarn l8. This action takes up the slack caused by the rising needie, pushes the yarn to the back of the needle hook and holds it in that position to prevent the second needle from robbing any of the: slack yarn.

The continued forward motion of the sinker raises the stitch Ni to the level of the high resting platform i3 which position is shown in Figure 3. In this condition the pressure is released from the yarn and the stitch is allowed to equalize any undue stress put upon it between the needles and sinkers, and this condition exists until the rear wall lb of the throat is moved forward to set the stitch on the needle. A side raising cam with a step to accommodate two or more needles is used to keep the needle hooks on a horizontal plane after they have been raised to the level of the high resting platform and the sinker is setting the stitch on the needle.

Thus there is produced what may be termed a double pushing action developed by inclined wail I2 and rear wall I with a rest period between produced by the resting platform I 3. This arrangement reduces to a minimum the strain put upon the yarn when drawing the stitch. When the next course of stitches is drawn, the first course is pushed over the hook of the needle by the pressure exerted by the rearwardly inclined sinker wall I 2, and when the hook of the needle is raised to the level of the high resting take up the slack yarn caused by the rising needle by moving the rearwardly inclined sinker wall against the yarn; the third step to release the pressure when the stitch is raised to the level of, and enters upon, the high resting platform l3 of the throat; and the fourth step to set the stitch on the needle by movement of the rear wall l5 against the same.

Only one sinker at a time pushes on the yarn after the stitch is drawn by the needle. 'I'helow stitch drawing platform ll allows the needle Hi to be drawn lower on the stitch cam before the latch is closed by the stitch on the needle, the yarn being fed higher in the yarn eye. This feature helps to prevent trapping of the yarn between the latch and check of the needle when the stitch is being drawn.

The invention involves a substantially horizontal stitch drawing platform on a lower plane than the resting platform of the throat'disposed forwardly of a rearwardly inclined wall extending upwardly from the stitch drawing platform to the resting platform, the resting platform also being horizontal and extending rearwardly from the apex of the rearwardly-inclined wall to the Slight-7 ly rounded rear wall of the throat; the rear wall extending upwardly from the resting platform to the roof of the throat; and the throat roof extending forwardly from the apex top or highest point of the rear wall and rounded at the outer end to form the nose of the sinker.

What is claimed is: t 1. The herein described method of knitting with independently-operated standard needles in conjunction with independently-operated sinkers having back walls, drawing platforms cut down from standard level and further having inclined walls connecting said low drawing platforms with resting platforms at standard height of the nor,- mal drawing platform, which consists in drawing a shortened stitch with a needle on said low drawing platform of a sinker of the form described,

the length of said stitch being the full length of stitch wanted, moving the sinker forwardly to take up the slack due to the needle rising, further.

moving the sinker forward to cause the stitch to rest on the high platform and then setting the stitch on the needle by moving the back wall of the sinker against same, each needle progressively drawing a stitch over each adjacent sinker.

2. The herein described method of knitting with independently-operated standard needles in conjunction with independently-operated sinkers having back walls, high resting platforms adjacent said back walls and being at substantially the elevation of the normal drawing platform of the standard sinker, inclined walls extending down from the forward edges of the high resting plat-- forms, and low drawing platforms extending forwardly from the lower portions'of said inclined walls, which consists in drawing a shortened stitch with a needle 0n the low drawing platform of a sinker, the length of said stitch being the full length of stitch wanted, moving the sinker forwardly so that the inclined wall will take up the slack due to the needle rising, resting the stitch on the high platform, and further moving the sinker forwardly to cause the back wall to set the stitch on the needle, each needle progressively drawing a stitch over each adjacent sinker.

3. The herein described method of knitting with independently-operated standard needles in conjunction with independently-operated sinkers having high and low platforms, an inclined wall joining the two platforms and a back wall, which consists in drawing a short stitch with the needle on the low platform of the sinker, taking up the slack due to the needle rising by moving the inclined wall of the sinker against the stitch, re-

leasing the pressure on the stitch when it is raised to the level of the high platform, and setting the 40 stitch on the needle by moving the back wall of the sinker against same.

4. The herein described method of knitting withindependently-operated vertically movable standard needles in conjunction with independentlyoperated inwardly and outwardly movable sinkers, having-low and high platforms, an inclined wall between the platforms and a back wall, which consists in drawing a short stitch with the needle on the low platform of a sinker, takin up the slack due to the needle rising by moving the inclined wall of the sinker against the stitch, releasing the pressure on the stitch when it is raised to the level of the high platform, and setting the stitch on the needle by moving the back wall of the sinker against the same.

CHARLES L. PAGE. 

